Here's what my wife and I were able to hit:
Pete Kartsounes & Michael Kirkpatrick at Steaming Bean on Tuesday night - we caught about 7 or 8 songs and was a nice chill way to kick off the festivities.
Yonder at CC - Ronnie and Jason are great additions which helps ease the loss of Jeff a bit. Kinda weird to hear some of "Jeff's tunes" (even the covers) sung by Ben or Adam, but it was still all good. I was really excited to hear Jason sing Lonesome, onry & mean (love that song). Other highlights for me were Oklahoma > Holdin > Oklahoma, jack-a-roe and the closing sandwich of Years with Rose > Winds of Wyoming > Girlfriend is Better > Windows, and Down that River Road. I thought the songs that Bruzza came out for were a really odd and poor choice (I am a big Bruzza fan too). I feel like he could've added so much more on Jack-a-roe or one of the sandwiches at end of first or second sets.
Salmon at the Sheridan - I admit I am not the biggest Salmon-head... I much prefer their more bluegrassy stuff from 1997-1998 so this show was just ok for me. The section with Keller was the highlight for me (and I am not the biggest Keller fan), along with the song Drew's daughter came out for. I have seen Drew jam much harder at other shows so that also left me wanting a bit more. Ah well.
Greensky at the Palm - Greensky and the Stringdusters have been, by far, my two favorite bands for the past years. Though, I will say that the previous 6-10 Greensky shows I have seen have been a bit lackluster in terms of jamming and pushing it to the edge (compared to past shows I have seen, 50+). Having said that, I feel like they kicked it up a notch for this one. We had a great spot about 4 rows back in the seats, dead center, great sound. The light show was fantastic. Was that the high school's lighting gear or did Greensky get some new toys? Some great jamming in Little Maggie, All Four, King of the Hill, and Don't Lie. I'd say I had the most fun at this show during the entire week (rivaling only the Dave Rawlings Machine set on the main stage as my favorite music all week).
Tim & Darrell at the Sheridan - So this was the show I was most excited about pre-fest. However, nightgrass every night and having to get up early to run the tarp for the tapers every morning caught up with me here. My wife and I were lucky enough to snag some seats up in the balcony but those seats, lack of sleep, and the edibles made me a bit sleepy and I admit I was happy they only played one set. Looking forward to hearing this again though.
Oh, and here is the setlist for the Greensky nightgrass show at the Palm for those asking...
set one:
ghost of Richard Manuel
the shape I'm in
better off
bring out your dead
against the days
little Maggie
200 miles from Montana
all four
set two:
letters to Seymour
in control>
can't stop now
bottle dry
jaywalking
king of the hill
old barns
don't lie
e:
Atlantic city
broke mountain breakdown
Listening to:
Yonder at the Conference Center 2014
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